Cavaliers hold off Bulls, take 3-2 lead in their semifinals

LeBron James scored 38 points, Kyrie Irving added 25 and the Cavaliers held on for a 106-101 victory over the Chicago Bulls last night in Cleveland to take a 3-2 lead in their testy Eastern Conference semifinal.

Showing no ill effects from a sprained left ankle, James, who added 12 rebounds, six assists and didn't have a turnover in 41 minutes, ensured the Cavs will again play at home this season.

They can wrap up the best-of-seven series with a win in Game 6 tomorrow night at United Center in Chicago, where the teams exchanged buzzer-beating victories last weekend. The drama wasn't quite as high in Game 5, but it was close and it was intense.

The Bulls were missing big man Pau Gasol, who sat out his second straight game with a strained left hamstring. They also played the final 10:25 without Taj Gibson, ejected for kicking Cavs guard Matthew Dellavedova.

Rockets 124, Clippers 103: James Harden had a triple-double (26 points, 11 rebounds, 10 assists) to lead host Houston to the victory and trim Los Angeles' lead in the series to three games to two. Game 6 is tomorrow night in Los Angeles. Blake Griffin led the Clippers with 30 points and 16 rebounds.

Pelicans fire coach Williams

The New Orleans Pelicans fired coach Monty Williams, parting ways with a coach who had a strong relationship with the franchise's marquee player, Anthony Davis. Williams has an overall record of 173-221, with two playoff appearances since landing his first head coaching job with the Pelicans in 2010.

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Brooklyn will host the NBA Draft next month for a third straight year, the NBA announced. The Knicks have a 19.9-percent chance of obtaining the first overall selection for the June 25 event and are guaranteed to be slotted no lower than fifth.